The great part about drinking craft beer is having the opportunity to taste ancient styles that are revived by craft brewers. Gose is sour wheat beer originally brewed in the town of Goslar, Lower Saxony Germany. With a distinct saltiness that is attributed to the mineral-rich aquifers that supplied the water for the brewhouses in the region. Craft brewers in Canada have been recreating these recipes using sea salt and sour mashing techniques to bring this old style back into the glasses of beer drinkers.

The family run Beau’s Brewery is bringing back this style with their recent Opa’s Gose from their Wild Oats series. Brewed with all organic wheat and barely malts, organic hops, organic coriander and sea salt this is a salty, tart and citrusy beer. At 5.0% alc./vol. in a Beau’s 600mL bottle, you can buy this beer at the Brewery in Vankleek Hill or through their online BYOB Home delivery service (if you live in Ontario). A single bottle will cost you $7.85.

Opa’s Gose is a tart beer with mild citrusy notes and a unique salty character. The saltiness of the style is diffused and complemented by a coriander spice addition.

Appearance: Comes in a great looking Beau’s etched bottle with a satchel containing a package of sea salt and the story of Beau’s Opa’s Gose. Before adding salt this pours with a sparse two finger head which dissipates quickly. A golden straw colour, opaque and slightly white. Adding salt adds a sparkle to the beer and it comes alive with carbonation spilling off the granules of salt. The head becomes thicker and smoother while the lacing sticks and shines on the side of the glass.

Aroma: Almost classic wheat beer here. A lot of wheat grains and spicy coriander notes. A slight apple tart smell and just a little bit of lemon peel. The yeast profile is noticeable with ester banana notes. I also sense a bit of apricots.

Taste: The first thing I noticed is that overall this is more sweet than salty or sour. Upon first hitting the tongue are sweet banana notes and a very slight saltiness. Texture is incredibly smooth with slight carbonation, a typical characteristic of a good wheat beer. This beer really coats the mouth and allows itself to linger nicely with nice rounded wheat, coriander and ester notes. Some citrus at the end but not really apparent. No sourness at all. Dry aftertaste with slight hop bitterness to round out with an earthy finish. Adding salt gives the beer more of the desperately needed saline flavour. A word of caution, a little goes a long way. They include more salt than you would need. With the salt the beer becomes much smoother while the carbonation comes alive a bit. Adding salt does distract from some of the more subtle citrus flavours however.

Overall: This is a very pleasant beer and with the added salt pack you can dial in your saltiness as desired which is a nice addition. However, I was disappointed by the missing acidic sour flavour that I believe a good Gose should have. I would consider this more of a salty witbier. Also, out of the bottle without the self addition of salt, this beer doesn’t hit the right notes of a Gose and the addition of salt in the glass after the fact tends to overpower the other flavours instead of blending and playing off of them.

I would still recommend that you go ahead and try this beer if you can. It’s a decent example of an old style that is difficult to find. Gose is an incredibly refreshing summer beer with more taste and character than your average cold lager. If you cannot get your hands on this Ontario beer, I still prefer Quebec’s Les Trois Mousquetaires Gose, which you still may be able to find in select beer stores.

And while you’re visiting Beau’s website, don’t forget to check out their Oktoberfest 2013 festival happening October 4th and 5th. Beau’s serves up great beers and you won’t be disapointed.

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Chris Karpyszyn is a Montreal based Software Developer and Homebrew enthusiast. He likes all things beer related, from drinking to tasting and the science behind brewing. You can also follow his homebrew project at King Beaver Brewery and his personal website chriskarpyszyn.com